“This review found that the prevalence of CMV retinitis in resource-limited settings, notably Asian countries, remains high,” write the authors. “Part of the explanation for the enduring high prevalence of CMV retinitis in Asia can be found in the fact that, despite considerable progress in scaling up access to ART [antiretroviral therapy], the proportion of patients who present late for HIV care remains high.”
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a late-stage opportunistic infection in people with HIV, typically occurring when CD4 cell count falls below 100 cells/mm3. The most frequent manifestation of CMV disease in people living with HIV is CMV retinitis, which is responsible for over 90% of cases of HIV-related blindness.
Largely thanks to antiretroviral therapy, new cases of CMV retinitis are very rare in richer countries.
There is also an assumption that CMV retinitis is no longer a major concern in resource-limited settings, especially as access to antiretroviral therapy is increasing.
But an international team of investigators was concerned that access to CMV diagnostic and treatment services is limited in many low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, the researchers noted that studies have reported widely varying rates of the condition.
